New and Noteworthy 2.3.0

This chapter lists all the new and noteworthy AVR32 specific items for the 2.3.0 release. Note that the base platform has also been updated for this release with many improvements and new features:


Contents

Debugging

New disassembly view The new AVR32 Disassembly view allows you to disassemble the entire memory of the device as opposed to the existing Disassembly view which is limited to showing the current stack frame. This view also allows you to disassemble a given address or symbol.

Image:avr32-disassembly.png


Auxiliary port selection On certain devices it is possible to select which pin configuration (AXS) shall be used for the Nexus interface. Whether or not this Auxiliary Port Override (AXO) is enabled or not and which pin configuration shall be used is now configurable. These new settings are located on the Trace page of the launch configuration.

Image:auxiliary-port-selection.png


Improved debug launch A debug launch will now automatically leave the device halted at it's reset vector. In previous versions of AVR32 Studio the debugger would be unable to start from the reset vector.
Easier launch The target view now provides easier access to debug launches. The target context menu will offer a sub-menu named Debug with a list of all AVR32 (non-Linux) projects. Selecting one of these projects will update the target configuration and assign it the MCU of the project. Using the project and target information a debug launch configuration will be created (unless a matching one already exists) and started. A similar function is implemented for Run launches.

Image:debug-menu.png


FlashVault support The launch configuration now offers FlashVault™ support. Selecting Enable FlashVault after programming will do exactly that. An option for protecting the secured area from debugging is also available. Note that for FlashVault to be supported by a project the -mflashvault option must be added to the project build settings.
Updated simulator The AVR32 instruction set simulator now has added support for the UC3A3, UC3C and UC3L device series.
Controllable aWire clock Debuggers and programmers that support aWire now have a extra slider in the properties view for reading and setting the aWire clock.
AVR Dragon The popular AVR Dragon now supports debugging including NanoTrace™. The range of devices it supports has also been greatly extended.

General

Improved packaging AVR32 Studio is now assembled in a manner that makes it possible to update only selected components of the product. If for instance new firmware for a tool has been made available, this can be installed without having to upgrade the entire product. Consequently component changes can also be rolled back. So if for instance the example firmware did not work as expected, it can be removed.
CVS supported AVR32 Studio now natively supports the CVS version control system. It have always been available as optional components but are now part of the main distribution. See the user guide for more information.
Task manager and issue tracker The extremely popular Mylyn task manager is now integrated into AVR32 Studio.

Image:mylyn-32-local-task1.png

Mylyn is a task-focused interface that reduces information overload and makes multi-tasking easy. It does this by making tasks a first class part of the IDE, and integrating rich and offline editing for repositories such as Bugzilla, Trac, and JIRA (or even private/local). Once your tasks are integrated, Mylyn monitors your work activity to identify relevant information, and uses this task context to focus the user interface on the task-at-hand. This puts the information you need at your fingertips and improves productivity by reducing searching, scrolling, and navigation. By making task context explicit Mylyn also facilitates multitasking, planning, reusing past efforts, and sharing expertise.

Software Framework

Updated and repackaged The UC3 software framework implementation that comes with AVR32 Studio has been repackaged so that it takes far less space. It has also been updated to version 1.5 with several new features and improved functionality. In addition it now also supports the UC3L and UC3A3 devices.
Improved example project wizard The new example project wizard has been improved and it should now be easier to find the project you're looking for. It has also been renamed to AVR32 Example Project and moved next to the other AVR32 wizards.
Overwrite files When executing a software framework wizard on an already populated project with changed software framework files, you now get an option to answer "Yes to all" and "No to all" when asked if the changed files should be overwritten.

Workbench

AVR Studio 4 button AVR32 Studio on Windows will now display a button in the main toolbar that can be used to launch AVR Studio 4 if this is installed. Information about this IDE for AVR (8-bit) development has also been placed on the welcome page for easy access.

Image:avrstudio4-button.png


Headless builds It is now possible to build AVR32 applications from the command line using the headless build mechanism.
Enhanced "chiperase" command The chiperase command has been enchanced and now offers to clear the device even if it has been FlashVault protected.
Enhanced "erase" command The erase flash command has also been enchanced and now offers several options through a new dialog.

Image:av32_erase_dialog.png


Create listing files So called listing files (*.lss) can now be created automatically when a project is built. This is in effect the same as calling avr32-objdump -h -S *.elf > output.lss automatically. To enable this option go to project properties C/C++ Build > Settings > Extras and check the option Automatically generate listing (*.lss) file.
FlashVault settings It is now possible to specify secured area settings when creating a project. By checking the Enable FlashVault box in the new project wizard FlashVault is enabled for the project. Note that the size of the secured RAM and flash must also be specified. For projects using devices that supports FlashVault, it's also possible to specify these values through the project properties dialog.